INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – The most difficult part for Luol Deng
of leaving the Chicago Bulls for the Cleveland Cavaliers was not packing his
five bags in a scattered hurry, not saying goodbye to his teammates of nine
years or even trying to quickly learn the Cavaliers' system so that he can
start Friday in Utah.

The toughest part of it all was telling his mom.

"To me, that was one of the hardest things I had to do –
explain to her that the organization I've been with nine years no longer wanted
me there," Deng said Wednesday after practicing with Cleveland for the first
time. "She couldn't understand why. She feels like I'm a nice guy, I get along
with everybody. So I had to explain to her, and she was asking me, 'You're not
playing well? What's going on?'"

He is a nice guy,
and he actually is playing very well, averaging a career-high 19.0 points this
season. But the small forward had difficulty reaching an agreement with the
Bulls on a contract extension; he will be a free agent this summer.

The Cavaliers' risk in the trade is that Deng is a
short-term solution to their long-standing small forward problem. But asked if
he thought Cleveland might be a long-term destination, Deng was succinct: "I
hope so," he said.

"It's something new for me and I'm really looking forward to
the challenge," Deng said. "I want to work hard, I want to fit in as much as I
can and I want to turn it around."

Deng said he is "open to" negotiating an extension with the
Cavaliers this season, but he's certain to have numerous suitors when he is a
free agent this summer.

In essence, the remainder of this season becomes an audition
process for both sides. Does Deng provide the help the Cavaliers desperately
need at small forward? Do the Cavaliers give Deng hope for victory, playing
opportunity and a hefty contract?

"Any time
anybody's a free agent, it's a two-way street," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown
said. "I don't think any of us are sitting here saying, 'He's ours forever.'
It's got to be a good chemistry, a good feel on both sides for this to continue
in a positive way.'

Already, Deng is working on becoming acclimated in
Cleveland. He said goodbye to his Bulls teammates one day earlier, a process
that was difficult for both sides. Chicago players expressed dismay and
disappointment at the Deng trade after learning of it. Deng admitted he still
was shocked.

"It's basketball at the end of the day, and it's my job. But
the hardest thing is those are friends," Deng said. "It's really hard when you
wake up the next day and know that your friend is gone and he's going to be
competing against you."

And Deng had a difficult discussion after he arrived in
Cleveland: he asked rookie Matthew Dellavedova to give up No. 9 so that Deng
could wear it. Deng has worn No. 9 for his entire career, a nod to his mother
for having nine children.

"It was
one of the hardest things I had to do," Deng said of his conversation with
Dellavedova. "I knew I had to speak to him at some point. I think we sat in the
locker room for a little while looking at each other. It was almost like we
were about to break up. It was really hard, but he's such a nice guy. He gave
up the number."

Dellavedova now will wear No. 8.

And Deng will attempt to come to terms with how his life has
turned upside-down in a matter of 36 hours.

"It's a contract thing, and my time has come up," Deng said.
"That's the direction the organization chose to go. They have every right to do
that. As players, sometimes we forget that we're employees, that's who we work
for. They have the final say."

He
continued: "I wish we would have handled the whole contract situation better.
But at the end of the day, either way I think the decision was going to have to
be made. I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision for them, either."

And then there's the matter of explaining to his mother,
Martha, why he was traded. Some of the lack of understanding might be because
Deng's family originally is from South Sudan. They fled to Egypt when Deng was
5, and eventually settled in London. Deng attended Duke for one season before
he was drafted in 2004.

Not even
Deng knows how the trade business works. When many of his new Cavaliers
teammates texted him welcoming messages Tuesday, Deng was surprised at the warm
reception.

"I don't know normally if guys get traded if that's what
happens," Deng admitted. "This is my first time. I told them I really
appreciated it. They're just so welcoming."

As for Martha Deng? Her son still is working on that one.

"She
still doesn't understand," Deng said, laughing. "She knows I'm here now. I
think at some point I'll bring her out to see everything. It will change her
mindset a little bit. It's been nine years. I'm the only kid in the NBA so she
doesn't know how it works. She'll be OK with it."

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